"Criminals, not monsters." I saw that Bryan Kohberger is unhappy in prison because the other inmates harass and taunt him. While he's in solitary confinement, the industrious and imaginative prisoners have figured out how to call out to him through the air vents and plumbing (apparently even his toilet is mocking him).
It's hard for me to feel sorry for a man who admitted to killing four unarmed people in the privacy of their own home. But clearly the other prisoners in this maximum security Idaho prison are not angels, either. So I wonder what it is about Kohberger that makes him a particular target for scorn.
Well, it turns out that a common phrase among prisoners is, "We're criminals, not monsters." According to true crime buffs and reporters who cover these cases, some offenders are just too offensive, even for other convicts. Here's a hierarchy – a hall of shame, if you will – of how perpetrators are targeted for tough treatment behind bars.
1. Extensive press coverage. Hello, Mr. Kohberger. Inmates who have been locked up for a long time will happily go out of their way to show celebrities that they aren't so special.
2. Crimes against children. This includes physical crimes and child porn. These inmates are in such danger of abuse that they are often held in protective custody.
3. Snitches. Who wants to live with someone you can't trust? Informants are also often held in protective custody.
4. Sexual predators. Specifically serial offenders. They're considered twisted ("that's what gets you off?") and losers ("can't you get it any other way?"),
5. Crimes against the elderly or disabled. "Too easy" and "pick on somebody your own size."
6. Spousal abuse. Especially if the victim was "the mother of your children."
7. Cruelty to animals. Prisoners often miss the pets they had to leave behind when they were incarcerated. Someone who willingly hurts a dog or cat or other pet has to be psychotic.
8. Prison thieves. Don't steal from your fellow inmates! Retribution will be painful.
9. White collar criminals. These convicts are typically not incarcerated in maximum security institutions. But if they do end up with more violent offenders, they don't get much respect but, on the other hand, they don't face too much harassment, either.
10. Drug dealers. Depends on the case. Unless they were selling to kids, drug dealers are often considered unlucky entrepreneurs and left alone.
11. Drug smugglers. Left alone because they likely have important and useful connections on the outside.
12. Hit men. It was business, not personal. Nobody cares.
13. Organized crime or gang members. Treated with respect, unless they took a plea deal. (See #3.)
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